Coldwater Creek files for Chapter 11, closing stores

Coldwater Creek, a women’s clothing retailer, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to close its stores — including six in South Carolina.

Based in Sandpoint, Idaho, Coldwater Creek has been hammered by flagging sales as consumers curb spending or flee to online retailers.

Locally, the company has stores at Columbiana Centre and the Village at Sandhill. Coldwater Creek’s other S.C. stores are at Haywood Mall in Greenville; Town Center, Mount Pleasant; The Market Common and Tanger Factory Outlets, Myrtle Beach.

The company plans to begin liquidation sales in May and close its stores by early summer. The company’s website is open to serve customers, Coldwater Creek added.

The company reported assets of $278.5 million and liabilities of $361.3 million in the Chapter 11 petition filed Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.

The company added it had studied a number of options over the past six months and unsuccessfully sought a buyer to pump capital into the operation.

In conjunction with its Chapter 11 filing, Coldwater Creek said it has received a commitment for $75 million in debtor-in-possession financing from an existing lender, Wells Fargo.

Founded in 1984, Coldwater Creek reported that in the third quarter of 2013, sales of stores that were open for at least a year dropped 16.8%.